Padres Add 2 Coaches to Staff

The Padres on Monday announced the hiring of two coaches, adding former St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Mike Roarke and former Seattle Mariners manager Jim Snyder to the staff of Manager Greg Riddoch.

Roarke, 59, replaces pitching coach Pat Dobson, who last week took a similar position with the Kansas City Royals.

Snyder, 58, fills the vacancy created by the firing of third-base coach Sandy Alomar Sr. Riddoch said Snyder will serve as bench coach.

The fate of the Padres’ other incumbent coaches--batting coach Jack Maloof, first-base coach Rob Picciolo and bullpen coach Denny Sommers--will be decided “by the end of the month,” Riddoch said.

Roarke was the Cardinals’ pitching coach since 1984 but was fired after the season by Manager Joe Torre, who succeeded Whitey Herzog in July. Roarke, whose firing in St. Louis was criticized by some Cardinal pitchers, apparently was a top candidate of new Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine.

“They got in touch with me, and it just kind of evolved,” Roarke said. “McIlvaine was the first to call, then Riddoch called after that. I talked to a few other people (including the Philadelphia Phillies), but this kind of worked out for the best.

“I think (the Padres) need a little more help. They (could use) a couple pitchers, but it’s just a question of what they (management) do.”

Said Riddoch: “Joe called me and suggested Mike Roarke. I said, ‘He’d be a tremendous guy. Go ahead and pursue.’ With Jimmy, I was the one who suggested him, and Joe said OK.”

Roarke has worked with one Padre before--left-hander Bruce Hurst, when both toiled for the Boston Red Sox’s triple-A team at Pawtucket, R.I.

Snyder served as director of minor league instruction and camp coordinator for the Chicago White Sox for the past two years. He was on Seattle’s coaching staff in June 1988 when Manager Dick Williams was fired. Snyder stepped in and posted a 45-60 record.

In another hiring, Andy Hancock has been added as a scout for the Carolinas and Georgia. Previously, Hancock was a regional scouting supervisor for the Texas Rangers.